Abstract Bone fractures occur in more than 25 million Americans per year, and a significant percentage of those fractures fail to heal. Fractures that show delayed or failed progression to heal account for the majority of patient disability and costs. Thus, there is an urgent need to better understand the biology of bone healing, and to use that knowledge to develop new diagnostics and therapeutics. We are seeking support for the 17th Biennial conference of the International Section of Fracture Repair (ISFR). The ISFR recently became incorporated as a section within the Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS) thereby leveraging the outreach of the largest scientific organization in the world dedicated to orthopaedic research. The ISFR is dedicated to the advancement and exchange of the most current scientific ideas and research findings on fracture repair and its application to the improvement of patient care. Our mission is be the premier forum to integrate and present cutting-edge ideas related to clinical, translational, and basic science research of fracture healing. The central theme for this conference is ?Thinking Big?. We will present the use of -omics approaches to solve the most significant research problems in the field and large-scale data management and advanced computational approaches to solve intractable clinical concerns. The meeting is organized around seven scientific sessions, and also includes an embedded symposium conducted with the Orthopaedic Trauma Association (OTA) focused on non-unions and a collaborative session on proximal humeral fractures conducted with the Bone and Joint Institute of the University of Western Ontario (BJI). The scientific sessions will each have a series of speakers, selected from submitted abstracts, and each will have an eminent keynote invited speaker. The sessions include: Stem Cells in Fracture; Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Big data; Fracture induced pain management; Fracture repair basic research; Fracture repair clinical perspectives; Bone repair with polytrauma; and Outcomes. There will also be a short session for poster oral presentations (poster teasers), a session on how to communicate science, a practicum on data management, and an ORS Presidential Guest Speaker. Following the ISFR 17th biennial conference there will be an associated ISFR/BJI consensus workshop, which will develop a consensus white-paper on the best evidence-based treatment for proximal humeral fractures. The meeting will present the most up to date research on fracture healing basic biology, translational research and prospective clinical studies. The Program and Scientific Committees will be highly focused on fostering an inclusive environment. Surgeons, biologists, engineers, and policy makers will attend the meeting, and be drawn from academia, government, and industry. A variety of activities will be focused on career development and networking for trainees in the bone healing field.